Motor vehicles today have increasingly sophisticated safety systems of the active and passive type. Active type safety systems typically use restraint systems such as inflatable restraint systems, in the form of frontal impact airbags and side curtain airbags, among others. Numerous additional types of countermeasures are employed today to enhance vehicle safety which may influence the vehicle steering or braking system or in some manner ready safety systems for the potential for activation. These systems require the use of a vehicle kinematic sensor such as a crash sensor. Crash sensors are employed to detect high magnitude accelerations acting on the vehicle for activating the previously mentioned safety systems. Kinematic sensors are also used to detect lower magnitude accelerations as part of vehicle dynamics control and collision avoidance systems.
Crash sensor devices today typically have many subcomponents and are generally based on a housing which contains a sensor that is soldered to an internal circuit board having discrete components. The housing has a formed internal cavity which receives the circuit board assembly. After assembly and installation of the circuit board assembly, the housing is generally sealed using potting or a laser welded cover. The housing provides mounting and locating features that allows for assembly to the vehicle and a connector interfaces provided for electrical connection to a vehicle connector and harness. These systems typically employ a male plug as part of the vehicle bus which is snapped into a receptacle cavity in the sensor housing. While such presently available systems are very effective, manufacturers and designers of motor vehicle components continuously strive to reduce their cost, number of parts, and complexity, and improve manufacturability while providing the necessary extremely high level of reliability and function, particularly important in safety-related systems and components.
The crash sensor assembly in accordance with the present invention uses what is described as a fuse style sensor element. The sensor element may be provided by a sensor supplier having a configuration resembling widely used automotive current limiting fuses, with a pair of aligned spade male terminals. A connector and housing assembly includes features for receiving the sensor element, and enabling it to be mounted to the vehicle and precisely positioned relative to the vehicle body and frame. The system of the present invention significantly reduces the number of discrete components needed to form the sensor assembly. The system also enables a reduced overall package size.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.